Etchings
by Daalny
Summary: An away mission is the pebble that starts a landslide.
1. Chapter 1

_No Infringement on any level is intended. I do not presume to own anything related to Star Trek, Paramount,etc. _

Darvos II was marvel or archaeological delight. The Enterprise had stumbled across the jewel of the planet whilst conducting a routine mapping mission of the Moncari sector. Starfleet had ordered the Galaxy Class Ship to this sector for a preliminary scan to assess it's worth to the Federation. Deep in neutral space Darvos had no known claims and the planets surrounding it were not inhabited. Sensors had detected the presence of dilithium on Darvos II so a search team was dispatched. When Picard had read the report of ancient ruins he had not only contacted Starfleet but gave command over to Riker so he could spend some quality time in the dirt. The Commander reluctantly agreed since many of the archaeologists on the ship had been thinned out at Starbase 124 to make room for the stellar cartographers who would be mapping the Moncari sector. Picard had enlisted Ensign Ro to be his personal pilot. She had been all but ordered to take time off by Dr. Crusher and Picard knew that if she stayed on board ship she would find someway to do something. Having her with him made sense also it appeased Lt. Worf. Ensign Ro was a formidable presence almost as intimidating as the Klingon. After two days Picard and another lone archaeologist had uncovered a chamber that seemed to contain a computer relic. Picard's engineering knowledge told him that he needed an engineer to examine them.

He tapped the badge on his chest, "Picard to Enterprise."

_Enterprise here_

"Commander, we've found something interesting and need and engineer. Do you think you can talk Geordi into loaning us one?""

_See what we can do most are tied up fixing sensors for the science crews. I'll get back to you._

"Thank you, Picard out."

"Something wrong Captain?" Ensign Ro's voice carried from the chambers entrance.

"Yes, well no. Need an engineer to look at this."

Ro nodded, "Is the Enterprise in orbit or will we they be sending another shuttle?"

"unknown as of yet…hungry?"

Ro nodded as did Moval the Vulcan archaeologist

Sometime later the question was answered in column of shimmering light and the form of Lt. Reginald Barclay.

"Lieutenant" Picard greeted warmly.

Barclay spun nervously to face the captain; the tall man carried a tool assortment and large pack. "Captain, I was told you needed and engineer. I'm also to tell you that the Enterprise has moved off for more detailed scans of the sector."

"When will the Enterprise be back in orbit?" Picard asked a hint of excitement in his voice.

"Eleven days" The lieutenant answered.

"Excellent!" Exclaimed Picard, "Ensign, would you please show the Lieutenant our camp?"

Ro resisted the urge to roll her eyes, she had heard the stories about Barclay and the prospect of spending over a week with him was not pleasing to think about. Nonetheless, she pushed those feelings aside and led the way towards the shuttle. Barclay took in the little tent city surrounding the shuttle and smiled weakly.

"You can sleep in the shuttle if you'd like" Ro stated.

"Oh, no a tent will be fine" he swung his pack up, "I brought one."

Ro was taken aback; she had heard that he was a certified hypochondriac. Surely he would sleep in a tritanium force-fielded shelter. She watched as he placed his pack on the ground and picked up his tool kit. "Where…" he asked accenting his statement with a wave of his finger.

Ro used her own finger to point and the two wandered back to the ruins.

"Mr. Barclay, this is what I wanted you to see." The Captain said directing the engineer to the corner of the chamber.

The audible twinkle of a tricorder soon filled the space, "Have you recorded all you need? I can wait if you need to document-"

"All images of this chamber were recorded approximately .5 hours ago" Moval informed."

Barclay nodded frantically in agreement before turning to kneel on the floor. He quickly opened his tool kit

Picard was standing over the mans shoulder, "I would like a full analysis and extraction of the information if any."

"Of course sir." Barclay replied and then withdrew an instrument that Picard didn't recognize and connected it to his tricorder. Picard watched for a few moments as Barclay begin his diagnostic of ancient computer terminal. With the engineer toiling away he left the chamber to join Moval in another area that was bearing exceptional artifacts.

Ro was on the hunt for stones, not just any stones but ones she could etch easily. Preferably round and smooth. After the incident with La Forge and the phase inverter she had experienced a spiritual awakening of sorts. She had slowly begun reading the texts written by the Vedek Assembly about the Prophets. She had decided that she would etch the Bajoran symbol of the Prophets onto a stone to mark her journey towards a more spiritual life. Before she left she went to the shuttle to check the sensors. As with previous checks there were no life forms to worry about. Nonetheless she secured her phasor and tricorder and set out.

Picard and Moval were in the Eastern Chamber and the space had been yielding treasures all day. Moval was busy cataloguing the finds the Captain was freeing from the soil and clay. The Vulcan was meticulous in recording the details in the PADD.

A clearing of the throat drew their attention.

"Mr. Barclay, what have you discovered?" The Captain asked.

"Ah, Sir the device in th- the chamber is a power source. The conduits are still functional and a crude form of dilithium powers the device. I believe that I can have it up and running within a day."

"You're certain?"

"Yes the clay deposits have kept the conduits from corroding and the dilithium while unrefined can power the system. The assembly that you uncovered has what appears to be the first generation of isolinear chips as it were." Barcaly opened his fist and inside was a round cut cloudy crystal, "I can reroute the damaged areas using our own isolinear chips m-m-m modified first."

Picard reached out and swiped the ancient crystal from the engineers palm, "Any idea what it powers?"

"No, no. I would like to use the sensors on the shuttle to map the conduits to see where they lead." Barclay managed to say without stuttering.

"That would also provide useful to our endeavors Captain a more detailed analysis would reduce the use of tricorders and digging." Moval added.

"Spoil the fun…Use whatever you feel you need and have Ensign Ro assist you if need be," Picard ordered.

"Aye sir" Barclay replied before shuffling off.

It was on the tip of his tongue to correct the Lieutenant to call him Mr. Picard but he thought better of it. Barclay was such a tender soul, he had come such a long way since his holo-addiction especially appearing in Beverly's play. It would probably be damaging for Barclay to use a less formal system with him.

Later that night the four were seated around a fire, the planet had subtropical climate the fire was not needed for heat yet it gave a pleasing light. Everyone was engrossed in their own worlds. Picard was reading an old tome of _something, _Moval was working on a PADD, Barclay was sitting amongst a pile of isolinear chips while Ro was contemplating the fire drawing patterns in the loose soil with a twig. After awhile she threw the twig into the flames before standing. "Well Gentlemen have a nice night."

Moval nodded deeply while Picard merely looked up and said, "Good night Ro." Barclay hastily stood to acknowledge her leaving his abrupt movement scattered the isolinear chips everywhere. Ro chuckled internally at his stumbling before going into her tent.

Come morning the group had woken and went about their business. Barclay had seen scans of the area and knew there was a small body of water. He wanted to wash before heading to the chamber. However, someone was already occupying the water—Ensign Ro.

The Bajoran was aware of his presence and proceeded to whirl around, mindful to cover vital area, and state, "Are you coming in as well?"

It was too much for Barclay and he scrambled back up the embankment back to camp. At this Ro openly chuckled and got back to her hygiene yet the encounter had her thinking. She finally had the opportunity midday to voice her thoughts to Captain Picard. The two were in side the shuttle using one of the LCARS panels to analyze an artifact. She was still giggling about Barclay.

"Something funny Ensign?" Picard asked.

Ro proceeded to tell the Captain about the meeting at the stream before asking, "How did that man serve tours on mixed gender crews aboard starships or for that matter survive the Academy?"

Picard looked thoughtful, "Well Mr. Barclay isn't a graduate of the Academy."

Ro's eyebrows climbed to her forehead in surprise, "H-How did he get into Starfleet?"

"Mr. Barclay is graduate of the Daystrom Research Institute." Picard let his sentence stand.

Ro exclaimed again, "Daystrom? As in Richard Daystrom—inventor…

"Of the duotronic computer" finished Picard. "Yes, Starfleet needs good minds and the Daystrom institute has a wealth of good minds so Starfleet offered graduates a full commission. As soon as he graduated he became a Lieutenant Junior Grade."

"He's that good?" Ro asked somewhat in awe.

"He's that good that I overlook some of his peculiarities, I think you might want to as well." Picard lilted.

Ro nodded the Captain was the only man beside her Father that could make her feel like a little girl and her Father was long dead. As the Captain exited the Shuttle Ro stayed behind when she was certain the Captain was gone she addressed the shuttle.

"Computer, Starfleet records search for Reginald Barclay"

The panel before her began spewing forth information Ro had the ability to process information almost as quickly as the computer could display it. "The third?" She exclaimed out loud. His Starfleet record also contained papers he had authored while at the Daystrom Institute, Ro looked through a couple and knew they were well beyond her scope of knowledge. With this information she knew that she would have to apologize. Ro spent the next few hours mulling about how to do it. During her gleaning she had discovered some suitable material for etching. On the way to the chamber she tossed it into her tent. She lingered in the entrance and watched the man before her. Barclay was up to his elbows in the power source, she cleared her throat softly hoping to get his attention and not scare him and it worked.

Barclay turned to see Ensign Ro in the entryway he was perturbed by her actions this morning but knew he couldn't really do anything. Nonetheless he drew himself up to his full height the only intimidating resource he had. Working all morning to modify the isolinear chips he had brought with him hadn't been successful. His anger at the device gave him courage, "If you're here to rip out my heart and show it to me before I die I just as soon you didn't." He swiped at his forehead unknowingly smearing dirt across it, "The Captain wants this up and running so unless you want to do it I suggest you just leave me alone."

Ro's ominous upbringing had made her an expert in body language; she saw his posturing and knew he was angry. "I'm here to apologize for this morning. You've been nothing but nice to me here and on board the Enterprise and I treated you badly. I'm sorry." And with that Ro turned and strode out of the chamber. Barclay stood dumbfounded it was rare that someone apologized to him. He didn't know if he should go after her. His brain rallied that if he were to go after her he would have nothing to say. He turned back to the device.

That evening the four officers were once again around a fire. Moval and Picard were discussing the discovery of statue probably representing a deity of the planet. Barclay was trying to understand why the isolinear chips weren't compatible. Ro was busy shaping a piece of material that she had found. The rhythmic tapping caught Barclay's attention and he looked up. The stone in her hand made his heart leap and then his body.

Picard and Moval were both startled to see the tall large framed officer spring up from the ground and damn near leap over the fire in a move that would have made Dr. Crusher jealous. Ro too was in a similar state but recovered just as the Lieutenants gigantic hand closed round her wrist.

"Can I have this? Where did you get it? Is there more?" He shot out at a rapid rate.

"Yes, you can have a piece. There is a vein over two kilometers from here of which I think there is plenty." Ro answered.

"Oh" said Barclay surprised. He was still holding her wrist gently manipulating it to turn so he could see the piece in her hand. Ro was about to bark at him to let her go but thought better of it. This was the closest the man had dared to get to her and after the fiasco of this morning she decided to follow the Captains lead and give Barclay a wide berth with his peculiarities.

"What is going on?" Picard shouted. The lieutenant spun and moved over towards the Captain all the while towing the Ensign. When he reached the superior officer he released Ro and began talking in disjointed sentences and gesticulating wildly.

"Captain, I thought that the isolinear chips could replace the damaged crystals but the modification isn't working and I can't replicate the crystal didn't think to run a geological scan of the planet though it makes sense but that doesn't matter since Ensign Ro," He waved expansively at the Bajoran before using both hands to point to the object in her hand.

Barclay was still talking about _everything_ causing Picard to look up at catch Ro's eye he cocked his eyebrow in a move that would make a Vulcan jealous before drawing a breath in through his nose, "So Lieutenant, what do we do now?"

"Oh! Well I would need to cut these pieces down to ah" He dug into his pocket and withdrew the cloudy crystals that he had removed from the device "match these."

Now it was Ro's turn stare appreciatively. She picked up the damaged crystals and turned them in her fingers, her keen eyes taking in the design, shape and the flaws. "I can do that." She said confidently.

Barclay beamed, "You can do that?"

Ro nodded.

Desperate to keep the conversation going Barclay plouged on, "Did you take sculpting at the Academy?"

"No Jaros II" She answered back.

Picard hid his snort of amusement by sticking his face in his Starfleet issue cup.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning saw Ro and Barclay at the vein she had discovered. The two were excavating pieces suitable for creating replacement crystals.

"Is Jaros II an artistic world?" Barclay asked.

Ro shot him a dirty look before remembering, He maybe in Starfleet but he's really not.

"No Jaros II is a Federation Prison you might have heard of it as 'The Stockade'" She informed trying to keep the cold edge out of her voice

Barclay hung his head, "I didn't mean to poke fun."

I think if it were anybody but you I would as you said 'Ripped out their heart and showed it to them before they died."

Barclay hung his head again this time lower, "I'm sorry I blew my top with you."

Ro was surprised, if that timid display in the chamber was him blowing his top she wondered what he would do if he was really _pissed_.

"Why me? Why wouldn't you kill me?" He asked meekly.

Ro grunted as she removed another piece of crystal before speaking, "The Captain told me that you didn't go to the Academy…that you were recruited out of the Daystrom Institute. That makes you outside Starfleet in my book you wouldn't really know about Jaros II."

Barclay was putting the crystals in a backpack before securing it on his back. Ro carried the case of tools and they headed back to camp.

The trip was passed in silence before Ro blurted, "Aren't you going to ask?"

"Ask what?" Barclay asked genuinely surprised.

"Why I was at Jaros II?" She prompted.

"No." He answered back and that was the end of the conversation. Back at the campsite Barclay handed Ro a stack of PADD's. "I was hoping that you could create these."

Ro took the PADD's and noted that they were full of dimensions causing her to rub her eyes.

"Problem?" Barclay asked.

"These are great if I were building something but I'll be sculpting. It would be easier if I could have the old ones as models."

He dug into his pockets and withdrew the pieces for her before moving off towards the chamber to learn more about the recalcitrant power supply. After an hour he went to see if he could help the Captain and Moval. Picard was impressed with the progress made. It seems the nervous engineer was quite adept at shoveling dirt. This was able to free up Moval and himself for the recording and analysis of the pieces they had uncovered. No one was really aware of how much time had passed until Picard's communicator chirped.

"Picard here"

"Sirs are you hungry yet?" Came Ro's voice through the communicator. Moval moved towards his tricorder. "Scans show that we have been here for 7.2 hours a recess would be most logical."

"Can't argue with logic." Barclay stated.

"That you can not Lieutenant, that you can not." Picard replied tossing a rag towards Barclay so he could wipe his hands. The three men left the chamber to head back towards camp. That night four heated rations over the fire. After the makeshift meal the four went back about their business save for Barclay. He quietly stood and left the camp. Ro watched him go making sure he took his communicator and phasor, he also carried a bundle of _something_. She needn't have worried for almost an hour later he returned. She took in his appearance his clothes were fresh her eyes wandered to his head and noticed his hair stuck to his forehead.

_He went to the stream_ her mind supplied. She watched as he threw something outside of his tent before he climbed inside. His palm beacon illuminated the inside and casted shadows. She could see that he was reading a PADD. She went back to working on her crystal soon Moval and Picard went to their respective tents. The fire was dying yet Ro was reluctant to go to her bed. The night was too lovely to pass up. She remembered when she was young that the only time she was happy in the camps was at night when everything was still. She placed her work on the workbench Moval had sacrificed from his cataloguing work so she could actually have a stable place to shape the crystals. The fire was calling her and she lay beside it. She listened to the fire pop and the foliage rustle and breathe. When sleep claimed her she was unaware of it.

When morning came Ro found that the camp empty when she sat up a blanket slithered off of her. Looking at it she saw it was not the standard Starfleet grey but a dark maroon. There was a marking on the bottom in gold-DRI her mind quickly converted the letters into something more useful Daystrom Research Institute.

Dressing quickly she snatched up her work from yesterday and headed towards the chamber Barclay was once again shoveling in the Eastern Chamber while Captain Picard and Doctor Moval were arguing over something.

"Lieutenant, I have an initial batch if you would like to test them?" She addressed formally.

Barclay nodded before pitching his shovel into the dirt. He followed Ensign Ro into the chamber containing the power source.

"Thank you."

"Hmmm?" Barclay mumbled confused.

"For the blanket."

Ro noticed that when Barclay blushed it included a good portion of his neck as well, "You're welcome." He said genuinely.

"I am a little curious, why didn't you just grab my blanket from my tent?"

"I didn't have your permission to enter your tent. I've stumbled across the privacy line in my career and it had repercussions so I just wait until I have permission." He spoke without facing her.

Ro was slightly confused she had heard rumors about the senior staff being used as templates for characters in the Holodeck. Before she could think she blurted, "Had something to do with the Holodeck?"

Barclay hung his head a move Ro was becoming familiar with, "I used the likeliness of people I knew to interact with. At that time I found I could do and say the things I wanted to a hologram but not a real person. It went all over the ship and then it became this 'fact' that I don't respect privacy. That's why I didn't fetch your blanket from your tent."

His admission brought forth a teaching of the Prophets _Sharing the truth is receiving a gift. _"I was stationed onboard the USS Wellington and disobeyed a direct order. Eight people died and I was court-martialed and sent to Jaros II."

Barclay turned towards her and nodded in affirmation.

"You knew?" She asked somewhat suspiciously.

"I knew about the court-martial" He waved his hands, "I- I I don't pay attention to gossip Ensign mainly since it involves me. I heard some whisperings in Engineering regarding you but it's just whispers not facts. I could have pulled your Starfleet file but why? The Captain trusts you… what more is there?" And with that he turned back towards the power supply. She watched as he chose one of her crystals and slid it into place a low hum was then heard. This pattern was repeated until all slots were filled, the humming had increased. Barclay stood and walked the perimeter of the chamber with his tricorder. He stopped in the middle of the chamber and tapped at his communicator. "Barclay to Captain Picard."

_Go ahead Lieutenant_

"Power system is up and running, any change in your location?"

_Seems the lights are now on, good work Lieutenant_

"Ro's crystals are working well."

_Excellent _

Barclay's tricorder had begun alerting him, he waved it over the conduit on the floor. Ro watched his eyes go wide before he dashed to the corner and slapped off the device. He strode back the conduit and began taking it apart.

"Damn" he swore softly.

"What's the matter?"

"I'm betting that there is another damaged crystal in this conduit and I can't reach it my hand won't fit" He lamented.

"Let me try"

Ro got down on all fours besides Barclay he grunted as he reached for a palm beacon. "Up and to the left, I can feel it with my fingers but I can't get it."

Ro watched as he tried to close his fingers around the crystal, which had the effect of forming a fist, which he then couldn't extract. He withdrew his hand and Ro fought down a moment of panic. She remembered the last time she was needed for her small hands. She was 13 and a Cardassian mine needed diffusing. She reached in and felt the crystal, "I think I go it…wait seems jammed." Wanting her hand free from the conduit she pulled hard and freed the crystal and also liberated a good deal of skin from her hand.

"Your hand!" Barclay exclaimed.

"It's not bad." She said dismissively.

Once again Barclays huge hand encircled the Bajoran's wrist and led her away. The human's other hand grabbed a medical kit. "We need to treat it."

"You have medical training?" Ro asked.

"I've been in sickbay enough to learn basic aid." He said off hand.

Ro watch as he sterilized the wound and began using the dermal regenerator with expertise, "Good enough for me" When her hand was repaired she stood.

"Wait!" He bellowed you need antibiotics.

Ro was puzzled.

"you could get an infection, just precautionary. Don't worry we have Stenophyl in case you have an allergic reaction."

Ro laughed but it wasn't at the Engineer it was at the fact this man was showing more compassion and concern for her wellbeing than anyone had shown in a long time. "Good idea" she finally said and presented him her arm. She watched as he chose a vial—blue and plunged it into the hypospray and set the dosage. A hiss was heard and the antibiotics were delivered. "So looks like another crystal needs to be made."

"I'll go inform the Captain" Ro said.


	3. Chapter 3

What the two didn't know was the Captain had been summoned when the lights in the chamber he was working in shut down. He had watched Barclay and Ro work together to remove the crystal from the conduit and then the treatment of Ensign Ro. Of the two people he could pick out of his crew that would be polar opposites it would be these two. He had experienced a twinge of apprehension when Barclay had first beamed down but the so far the man had been exceptional and not only that he was able handle Ro. Picard thought about the explosive Bajoran, she had such raw talent but that was fused with her temper. He remembered the first few months she was onboard there were a few broken noses and blackened eyes not all of it was Ro's doing. Some _former _members of his crew had driven the Bajoran into injuring them. Picard took particular pleasure in dumping them off at a Starbase. With a pedantic engineer and a volatile Ensign stuck together on for a week he was sure that the shuttlecraft would have been turned into a brig by now. Yet the two were not only working together but working _well. _Ro did not like physical contact yet she was tolerant of Barclays handling of her. Also Barclay wasn't shying away from Ro's bluntness.

"Everything all right?" He asked.

"Captain, I was just going to find you. We need to replace another crystal other than that everything is fine." Ro informed.

"Carry on" Picard stated.

The two junior officers made their way back to camp while the senior officers stayed in the chambers. Ro began working on forming new crystals while Barclay watched. As he saw her pile dwindling he grabbed his equipment.

"Where are you going?" Ro asked.

"To get you more material."

"Do you have your phasor?"

"Yes." He nodded.

Ro felt like a nervous Vedek sending off a Prylar, she was responsible for the security of the group. She had seen Barclay's records with his phasor training it wasn't impressive but at least he could hit something point blank if something were to happen. Her fears were assuaged when he came back later unharmed.

The next few days passed almost mundanely, the Captain and Moval continued their progress aided by the lighting system Barclay had repaired. Ro was aiding the engineer in fixing other system. So far they had downloaded some sort of information. The Enterprise would be in orbit in less than a day for a more detailed analysis. On this particular morning Barclay had activated some system which emitted a signal he quickly deactivated it since the shrill whistle annoyed everyone especially Moval. In the morning Barclay awoke early and decided to get more ore from the vein. So far Ro had only worked on making replacement crystals instead of the project she wished to work on. He thought that if he could get her more material she could etch on board. Remembering her advice he took his phasor.

While the three others were splitting rations Ro heard alert from the shuttle, she went to it and Moval and Picard followed. "What is it Ensign?"

"Proximity alert, ship in orbit." Her fingers flew over the panel trying to assess the threat.

"The Enterprise?" Moval asked from his position.

"No."

"Contact Mr. Barclay" Picard ordered.

Ro opened the communication channel, she was about to inform Barclay of the situation when Moval stated, "Captain." They turned and saw four armed Humanoids.

"I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise, we mean no harm."

"You're trespassing on our world."

"We thought this planet was uninhabited we are explorers."

"You have violated our ancestral world we were alerted to your presence through by the beacon."

Ro spoke softly, "What was activated this morning."

The Captain noted that she was keeping Barclay's name out of the conversation.

At the ore deposit Barclay stood in horror as his communicator was relaying the conversation in the shuttle. The Captain and Ro were secretly conveying information through the communication circuits. He had learned that there were four aliens and that they were well armed. He looked at his phasor there was no way he could hit four in succession. He knew that he could widen the dispersal field but that would alter the strength in varying degrees, which is why the wide dispersal wasn't used, and he couldn't risk hitting a fellow crewmember. An exclamation of pain transmitted through the communicator someone had been struck by a weapon. He heard Ro's voice, "Captain are you all right?"

"Fine Ensign" Came the weak response.

"Can I have a medical kit?" Ro asked.

"He's fine" Barked a rough voice.

Barclay decided that he had to use the wide dispersal on the phasor, he choose the strongest stun setting and head out.

Picard was cradling his head; the leader of the group of aliens had phasor-whipped him. A noise outside the shuttle drew the attention of three of the guards. Something had landed near the shuttle suddenly the three were enveloped in blinding light. With the leader startled with his men down Moval quickly dispatched him with a nerve pinch Ro collected the weapons and checked on the aliens outside. Two were still breathing and one was not.

Barclay was chanting, "It was on stun."

Ro saw that he was shaking and took his hand and led him to the shuttle. She quickly spoke to Moval and the Vulcan nodded. The unconscious alien was deftly picked up and moved outside. Ro made Barclay sit in the co-pilots seat the Captain was in the Pilots.

"Captain" She said

He took a measured breath before whispering, "My head rings and I feel sick."

She scanned him with a tricorder, "Concussion I suggest you sit still, I have no idea what to give you."

"Lexorin is still standard in medkits, a dose should ease his symptoms." Barclay informed from his seat still staring ahead. Ro opened the medkit and showed it Barclay who pointed to a green vial. No doubt this was the Lexorin. Seconds after the drugs entered Picards system he looked markedly better. Ro was wondering what to give Barclay when the comm. beeped.

_Riker to away team we've detected a ship in orbit that isn't answering our hails. What is your status?_

Moval was standing guard over the unconscious aliens while Ro told Riker the situation. This was going to be a diplomatic nightmare to sort out. Moval had himself and the other aliens beamed to _Enterpise _the Captain as well was transported directly to Sickbay. Riker beamed down with a security teams to secure the area and document the scene.

The XO of the Enterprise was anxious to debrief the Lieutenant but he saw the emotional strain the man was under and thought better of it. "I'm really not up to being transported right now, can I come back in the shuttle with Ensign Ro?" Barclay asked.

Riker agreed, "Of course, as soon as you dock I want both of you to go to sickbay—understood?"

"Aye Commander" Barclay stated softly.

Instead of taking the co-pilots seat Barclay sat himself on the bench. He watched as Ro began the preflight checks and soon the shuttle was leaving the atmosphere. Effortlessly the shuttle docked and the two went to Sickbay. Dr. Crusher treated Barclay with a gentle hand injecting him with a mild sedative and sending him to his quarters. Ro was also given orders to go to her quarters to rest.

Picard was worried, he had recovered from his concussion and was cloistered in his ready room with a steaming cup of tea. The incident with the Mytherans had been resolved albeit tersly. A science ship would not be dispatched to Darvos II and everything that Picard and Moval had collected was put back on the planet this included the crystal material Ro and Barclay had excavated. Their tents and other Starfleet material had been given back to them. The door chime caught Picard's attention.

"Come"

"You wanted to see me sir?" Riker asked.

"Yes Will have a seat." Riker collapsed his large body onto the small sofa near the door. Picard tossed him a PADD. "This is Barclay's report on the Mytheran incident notice anything?"

Riker busily devoured the report thumbing down the text before stating, "Damn…Has Deanna seen this?"

Picard nodded, "Yes and she has had two sessions but I don't think they are working."

"How's that?" The Commander asked.

"Geordi has informed me that Barclay is throwing himself into his work and it's obvious to everyone he's not sleeping. Guinan has reported that he stays in Ten-Forward."

Riker ran a hand through his hair; if Guinan was reporting to the Captain then it was serious. "What is the protocol for this? So far he hasn't done anything his performance is stable and he's keeping appointments."

"There is something I wanted your input on."

Riker knew by the Captain's tone that whatever he had in mind could either be a spectacular victory or a spectacular fail. "Let's hear it."

Picard picked up the PADD, "I want to give this report to Ro, I'm certain they formed a bond on the planet and I think she could get him to talk or at least get him to go to Troi."

"I can see your apprehension, Ro isn't known for subtlety and she could make it worse but I think it's a good idea." Riker added. "I'll take it to her."

Ro was surprised to see Commander Riker at her door, she was hoping for another visitor. Her hopes were half answered by the delivery of a PADD. Riker merely gave her the PADD and then left. Ro sat down and began reading.

She too found the area of text, which gave Picard and Riker pause

_I threw a stone into the area of the shuttlecraft and three individuals came out. My phasor was on wide dispersal and the aliens were grouped close together. I fired my phasor and murdered one._

"Computer locate Lt. Barclay."

_Lt. Barclay is in Ten-Forward_

"Is he alone?"

_Negative_

"Who is with him?"

_Guinan_

With that she stuffed her feet into shoes and headed out.

Barclay stood by the window wishing the transparent aluminum wasn't there so he could fall into the stars. He had killed someone. The platitudes he had heard from counselor Troi were not helping. He didn't want to see the looks of pity on the crews faces he also made sure he stayed clear from sickbay. He didn't know what he needed but he was certain he would know what it was when he saw it.

The doors to Ten-Forward whispered open and the Bajoran made her way to the dimly lit bar. Guinan was in the shadows just watching, "How long has he been here?"

"A while" came the answer from the bartender.

Ro shook her head her eyes determined but sad, "I should have seen him sooner, this is my fault…Can I stay here a while to fix it?"

Guinan's lips curved upwards and she quickly exited the lounge leaving the two alone.

Slowly Ro made her way towards the window and stood next to Barclay. She just stood next to him not talking she just shared the space with him. Tentatively his hand reached out for hers and she grasped it but she never took her eyes off of the stars and neither did he. Time seemed to hang, they could almost see it draping around them as they stared out of the window. Still Ro wouldn't say a word; she wouldn't tell him that everything would be all right because it might not. She wasn't going make small talk she was simply going to be with _him_ for that is what he needed. She didn't know how long they stayed like that but eventually he released her hand and spoke, "I'm going to bed."

"Good night…Reginald." She said sincerely.

"Good night, Laren."

The nights passed in this fashion the two sharing silence in front of the observation window. It took five nights for Barclay to actually speak, "I never thought I could kill someone."

"Neither did I" Ro replied.

Barclay was puzzled and his face showed it.

Ro scoffed, "Did you forget already? I disobeyed orders and eight people died because of me. At the time I thought I was doing the right thing that I would be saving lives but those people are still dead."

"I'm sorry" he said quietly "I knew the dispersal field had the potential to kill, the power in the phasor gets modulated differently in that wide pattern weaker in some areas lethal in another. The thing is, I would do it again. What about you, knowing what you do now would you have disobeyed orders?"

"I don't know" Came the Bajorans reply.

The two went back to looking out of the window. After this encounter the officers closest to Barclay noticed a change while he was still withdrawn he didn't have the haunted look about him. What no one realized was the problem had just gone underground.


	4. Chapter 4

Barclay had been seeing Counselor Troi for weekly sessions. The half-Betazoid had warned his superiors that they might see things out of the ordinary. Troi was trying to get the Lieutenant to acknowledge that what he had done had been in defense but it was slow going. Barclay had been subject to panic attacks in the past for various issues. With this experience he was bound to have those and more serious issues. During one session Barclay was subject to a flashback, Troi had seen the signs and was able to guide him through it.

During a shift in Engineering Geordi saw first hand the effects of Darvos II. The deflector assembly was in need of a diagnostic. Barclay had experience with the deflector; in fact he had damn near rebuilt it after the failed energy weapon with the Borg. Two hours into the diagnostic Geordi went to check on his progress. He found a hyperventilating sweat soaked Barclay in the Jefferies Tubes. Thanks to the Counselors forewarning Geordi was prepared. He spoke to him softly and got his breathing back under control. The ODN coupler had triggered his flashback and subsequent panic attack. From then on La Forge had Barclay work with another.

What should have been a benevolent act quickly turned sour. Generally Ensign Emily Logan was assigned to work with Barclay. The two were friends and Emily actually preferred Barclay's company since he didn't try to ask her out like the other engineers. Unfortunately she was needed on the re-crystallization team for the warp core and couldn't be paired with Barclay. The only other engineer La Forge could assign was Lak. This particular engineer was a Trevu, the United Federation of Planets had granted the world admission nearly a decade ago. Members of the planet were now more readily willing to choose the Academy, Lak was one such individual. The only way La Forge could describe them was as if the Ferengi and Vulcans had managed to mate and produce an offspring. They were intelligent yet arrogant! Their disdain for women had delayed their admission into the Federation by five years. On further review of their application their petition had been accepted.

Barclay endured most of the shift without speaking to him. They were realigning sensors for Stellar Cartography. It was an important assignment yet tedious. Lak had assumed that his posting to flagship of the Federation would have performing cutting edge engineering procedures. He hadn't counted on being forced to work beside a man he considered too timid to be in Starfleet. Barclay had politely asked him to cycle the power in the sensor array yet Lak had ignored him. When it was clear that Lak was not going to comply Barclay made it an order. "Ensign Lak cycle the power."

"She can do it." Lak spat pointing towards Logan.

Barclay drew in a breath through his nose as counselor Troi taught him, he allowed the breath to fill him. "I gave you an order Ensign."

La Forge could hear raised voices and felt a twinge of pride that Barclay had issued it and had no stuttered whilst doing so. Nonetheless the pride he felt quickly turned to panic as the Trevu strode forward directly into Reg's personal space.

"Who are you to order me?" Lak hissed.

"Your superior officer" Barclay delivered.

Logan quickly joined Reg's side publicly showing her support. La Forge came next and relieved the wayward Ensign. As the Trevu stormed out Barclay seemed to crumple before righting himself. Ensign Logan dashed off to a replicator to get him a glass of water.

Later while La Forge was on the Bridge this incident was revealed. "No excitement here Geordi." Riker informed good-naturedly.

"I think a little boredom would be welcome." La Forge answered as he jabbed his control panel.

Instantly Riker's demeanor changed, "Something wrong?"

As the First Officer it was Riker's duty to manage the crew. La Forge quickly told the Commander of skirmish in Engineering.

"Is Barclay all right?" Riker asked.

La Forge chuckled, "I'm sure Ensign Logan is taking good care of him."

From her position at the helm Ro stiffened. At first she didn't know why and when realization came it was like a club to the head. She was jealous; she didn't want anyone taking care of Barclay except her.


	5. Chapter 5

After her shift Ro wound up in Ten-Forward, somehow the stars here were more real than the ones seen on the main viewer. A lively conversation to her left caught her attention a cluster of yellow uniforms was seated around a table. Her heart rate increased when she saw that Barclay was among them. She also spied a human female this must be Logan. She was going to leave when she heard a cheerful greeting.

"Ro!" Barclay exclaimed, he stood his body vibrating with delight. She watched as he looked around and then snagged a chair and dragged it towards the table. It was with a sense of triumph that she watched him place it next to his chair. La Forge acknowledged the Bajoran with nod while Logan simply said "Ensign" in greeting.

"I heard there was a rumble down in Engineering" Ro said with a smile. Her smile grew when she saw that Barclay didn't hang his head he merely scoffed. The table began exchanging stories of awkward situations. Half hour later the laughter died down when the whispering doors of Ten-Forward revealed Engineer Lak.

Guinan was wiping imaginary grime from the bar. What couldn't be seen was that her other hand was gripping a phasor. Lak approached the table, "When can I come back to full duty?" he snapped at La Forge.

"When you apologize to the Lieutenant here" He jerked a thumb at Barclay. "Also you need to learn that women in Starfleet are not your servants."

Barclay swallowed hard and Ro noticed him beginning to tense. As she put down her drink on the table her hand encircled his ring and pinky finger of his left hand, trying to pour her support into the grip.

Lak mumbled what could pass for an apology, everyone knew it was insincere but working with the Trevu was a new experience for everyone. La Forge knew that this was a good as it was going to get. "You'll have second shift."

Lak's face contorted in horror, "Night shift! Nothing of significance will be accomplished."

Ro was finding this amusing, "I take it you've never really worked the night shift…I like the night shift."

Those at the table who had worked night shifts and had had incredible things happen let out amusing laughs. As Lak left the table he uttered, "Whore's would like the night shift."

The past few days of panic attacks and flashbacks had eroded Barclay's control and the incident in Engineering a few hours ago had frayed his patience. La Forge had suggested Ten-Forward so he could regain some composure however, this new encounter with Lak had reduced Reg to pure nerves. He stood so quickly that his chair launched away violently. The Trevu was almost to the door but Barclay quickly intercepted him and grabbed him by his biceps. With the man restrained he threw him against the wall and stiff-armed him in place. With Lak going nowhere Reg spoke through his teeth. "Don't you ever call her a whore. In fact you don't get to speak to her…ever!"

The last word was audible to everyone in Ten-Forward. With his sudden surge of adrenaline came the sudden crash. Reg became sick to his stomach and tremors took residence in his body. Ro gently took Barclay aside while La Forge took over minding Lak, The Trevu quickly got over his fright eyes searching for Guinan. She had seen the incident and had quickly moved to the door.

"I believe this man is in violation of this establishments policies" Lak said with contempt. His words directed to Geordi instead of Guinan more evidence of his lack of respect for women.

"From what I saw he was defending a woman, which is not only tolerated but supported by me. I suggest you leave before I have you escorted out." Guinan delivered and Lak slunk away like an alley cat that had lost a fight. One of the off duty security guards quickly left her table to shadow Lak.

Barclay sucked in a shaky breath, Ro could feel the eyes of everyone in Ten-Forward boring into her skull. She was able to ignore but she worried for Barclay. The Bajoran looked to La Forge who nodded. Ro had known the human long enough to communicate non-verbally. Ro linked an arm through Reg's and led him out of Ten-Forward. As the two walked down the hall Ro noticed Reg's pallor had turned green. They were nearing his quarters so she increased her pace and pulled him along. She was able to get him to the small bathroom before he lost the contents of his stomach. She waved on the water and went rummaging for a washcloth part of her brain noted that this man was meticulous not a thing out of place. With his heaving done she bent him over the sink. Wetting the washcloth and placing it on the back of his neck, Barclay used the running water to wash his face and rinse out his mouth. With him cleaned up he deposited himself in a chair. Ro approached his replicator, "Springwine" she requested.

A flute of light blue fluid shimmered into existence, Reg took it but eyed is suspiciously.

"Drink it" She barked before continuing more softly, "Help calm your nerves it'll also kill that acidy bile taste that I know you have."

Reg took a sip; the liquid seemed to dissolve on his tongue. "This is nice."

Ro sat beside him, "That Trevu…now there's a crewmember that I would like to rip out his heart or hearts and show it to him before he dies!"

Reg nearly snorted the wine through his nose, he laughed with her before turning serious. "I didn't insult you… did I? By doing what I did?"

Ro was overcome with the urge to take his hand but she didn't, "No Reginald you didn't insult me, in fact it was flattering. Most men on this ship leave me to deal with things like that on my own since for the most part I can deal with them. Not since my Father has someone defended my honor like that."

Before he could stop himself Reg blurted, "Have dinner with me?"

When his brain finally registered that he had vocalized his thought he inwardly cringed. Would she reject him? Would she scorn him?

"Yes, I'll have dinner with you. Day after tomorrow I have off, will that work?"

Reg forced his mind to process her words and he only had the morning shift the rest of the week her time frame would work. He could only nod. The dark haired Ensign stood, "Drink the rest of that and then go to bed, Springwine tastes great but it can pollute your head. Good night Reginald and thank you."

Reg grabbed the flute and downed the contents in one single gulp, "Good night Laren. See you the day after tomorrow."


	6. Chapter 6

At first Reg cursed time for it seemed to moving so slowly he had to stop himself from using the sensors to see if the ship had become stuck in a time dilation field. Then time seemed to speed up and he became more nervous. On one of his breaks he went to Ten-Forward.

"I thought this would be more appropriate than warm milk" Guinan said softly and handed him a juice blend from Frocas III.

He took a sip and looked back out the stars.

"What's bothering you?" She asked settling herself into a chair near the window.

"I have a date tomorrow." Barclay said softly.

"Ro?" Guinan asked rhetorically.

"Yes" Barclay answered.

"Sounds like fun" And with that the Bartender left.

Barclay sighed he had hoped that Guinan would gift him with some nugget of information.

_Sorry Reg, you're going to have to do this all by yourself. _Thought Guinan as she walked back to the bar.

Ro's day off was spent in Ships Stores trying to find something to wear for dinner. She wondered if she was as nervous as Barclay. She had never been one for shopping but she knew that Reginald was way outside his comfort zone so she would take a trip to hers as well.

When the appointed time neared he went to his bathroom, got clean and then dressed. As he strolled down the halls he tried to ignore the stares of the crew. He took the turbo-lift to deck 6 and followed the curve of the corridor to her quarters. He didn't know if she had been waiting on the inside of her door for as soon as he pressed the announce button the door opened revealing her. She was wearing a dark green dress that fell to her knees. The dress was sleeveless exposing her well-toned arms. Black stockings encased her legs.

"Laren you look lovely" He told her.

Ro took a minute to examine her date he was wearing something she had not seen. Her puzzlement caught Barclay's attention. "It's called a suit…Jacket, dress shirt, pants and tie."

"Earth custom?" Ro asked

"Yes, only thing I could think of to wear."

They didn't touch as they walked towards the turbo-lift. "Deck Ten" Barclay requested and the lift moved. The doors to Ten-Forward loomed Ro took a minute to offer a prayer to the Prophets that they would make it out alive anything after that she would take as a blessing.

Guinan had cleared an area for them and they sat down at lighted table. Guinan herself delivered the menu.

"What is this?" Ro asked.

"What's the matter?" Barlcay asked alarmed

Ro threw up her left hand in frustration, "I can't read this."

Barclay took the PADD from her, "Oh it's in French."

Guinan grimaced I generally do French Menus for the Captain but you can order whatever you'd like."

"What is Poo-let St. Trow-pez?'

"Poulet St. Tropez?" Barclay restated in a perfect French accent, making sure not to pronounce the Z.

"It's chicken, it's very good. I-I-I was going to get it myself." Barclay stammered.

Ro shrugged, "Sure I'll have that. You speak French?"

Barclay nodded; when I performed Cyrano De Bergerac I learned the language.

"Any other languages?" Ro demanded politely.

"I can read Welsh but my pronunciation of it is bad." Ro's eyes urged him to continue and he did. "My Dad is Welsh, I was born in Swansea that's in Wales, my Mom and Dad moved to Ohio when I very young but my Dad kept books around. H-How about you?"

Ro took a sip of water, "Bajoran and of course Federation Standard. Plus I can say 'Touch me and you'll die' in Klingon and a handful of other fleet UFOP languages."

Barclay laughed richly his eyes dancing, "you'll have to teach me those." Guinan came back with their meals and offered some non-synthahol, which Barclay declined. Ro was curious as to why.

"I don't want any of my head polluted when I'm with you" He stated flatly and Ro flushed. Never had anyone said something as nice to her. They talked more and ate little. With dinner ended he walked her back to her quarters she invited him in. To her surprise he did but he stayed by the door. "I had a good time" he told her.

"As did I…want to have dinner again or do something else? Holo-deck maybe?" She asked.

"Sure! Whatever you want." Barclay proclaimed.

_Whatever I want_ thought Ro. She walked closer to him and saw a flash of fear in his eyes. She threw caution to the wind and touched his lips with hers. At first she thought she had made a colossal error for he was frozen in place but quickly he returned the pressure and his hands went around her wrists before traveling up to her shoulders to pull her closer. When the need for oxygen was more pressing the two separated albeit reluctantly. "I'd better go" Reg told her rejoicing that he voice wasn't squeaking.

"See you tomorrow Reginald?" Ro asked.

"See you tomorrow Laren."

In the morning Barclay was early for his shift, La Forge was pleased to see his friend in good spirits. Starfleet had been informed about Ensign Lak he was going to be reassigned. However, Starfleet still wanted a Trevu onboard the Enterprise. A science ship was going to be in the sector in the next two days. An exchange of personnel was going to take place. Until then Lak was confined to his quarters, Captain Picard had given him a blistering dressing down. When Lak had bleated about Barclay's conduct Picard informed him that he had gotten off light.

La Forge reflected on his friendship with Reg. At first he couldn't stand him thought he was just a burned out mind giving Starfleet a whirl he couldn't have been more wrong. He had figured out the link with the Invidium, been solid during the crisis with the Borg and become a good friend.

The warpcore was doing fine after it's retuning and the tinkering had the Cartographers in their lab instead of standing on consoles in Engineering demanding attention.

"Do you think you're up to working on your own today?"

"Yes sir, we could have verbal check in every 15 minutes if you think that would be sufficient." Barclay suggested.

La Forge exhaled a quick breath, "I think check-in every 30 minutes would be sufficient per protocol."

"Aye sir" Barclay nodded before going to an anteroom to change into an Engineering jumpsuit. He grabbed the appropriate toolkit and programmed his tricorder to emit an alarm every 30 minutes. The replacement of a plasma conduit would take at least two hours. Before he left he opened the toolkit and took a good look at all the components. This time none of them set off a panic attack. He left the anteroom and informed La Forge that he was on his way.

The chief engineer kept his eye on the chronometer right on time his comm. badge beeped.

_Barclay to La Forge_

La Forge here

_Coupling is released *grunt* starting the replacement._

"Okay Reg"

Barclay was on time with his check-ins easing the Chief Engineers concerns. While no one would ever know when a flashback or panic attack would strike there was no certainty with anything in Starfleet. With this in mind La Forge keyed his PADD and put Barclay back on full duty without a partner.

That night saw the Bajoran and the Engineer in the arboretum. Once again while they walked they didn't touch. Reg was delighted to learn that Ro had knowledge of Botany. She pointed to certain specimens and gave a more detailed rundown than the placard in front of it. This time after their walk they ended up in Reg's quarters. Once again when she went to kiss him he seemed to stiffen. Nonetheless they traded kisses before Ro steeled her nerves to ask something important.

"May I ask you a question?"

He nodded.

"When was the last time you slept with someone?"

Reg blushed and Ro instantly knew the answer was going to be intriguing. "The first and last time I was with a woman it was onboard the USS Zhukhov. I was 29 and a paper I had written had been accepted by the Zefram Cochrane Institute for Advanced Theoretical Physics also I was being transferred to the Enterprise. A woman I worked with… we were friends and well…" He trailed off and chewed on his thumb.

She thought about his service record, "How old were you when entered Starfleet?"

"Twenty-two" In between bites of his thumb

His age of entrance was on par with other Academy cadets. When she remembered that he hadn't gone to the Academy.

Barclay was able to glean her thoughts, "I went to the Daystrom Institute when I was fourteen I received my initial degree at 18 and then stayed on and got an Advanced degree. I had been given the option of teaching but the idea of speaking" he rolled his eyes in terror of the thought.

It was then that she understood _everything_

He was no more than a child when he went to Daystrom. While he was with his peers intellectually socially he was not. And those with a conscious would not take a 14 year old to bed. By the time he graduated he had earned a rank superior to most cadets. He social awkwardness and intellect would repel dates. She also thought about the timing of his encounter after an emotional high of acceptance of a paper and before a transfer. He could possibly never see that particular woman again. She wondered if he had bedded that woman just to get _it_ over with and not have the stigma of being a Virgin along with everything else.

With his social interaction being virtually non-existent she knew that she would have to do all of the work for their relationship to progress in _that_ way. She also knew tonight was not the night to pursue it further. She burrowed her head into his chest and he brought his arms around her small frame to pull her close to him. Holding her close eased him, his thoughts slowed and he felt a calm rarely felt. Ro's upbringing had made her leery of physical contact. After her Father had been killed her mother had been broken emotionally. The life in camps was grueling and physical contact was either forced or not given. It was quite awhile before the two released one another and said "Good Night."


	7. Chapter 7

_Captain's Log Supplemental_

_The Enterprise has finished the exchange of personnel; Ensign Lak has been replaced with Ensign Sud. Currently we are at warp 7 having received a distress call from Lakun IV. _

Riker stood next to his command chair, "What are your readings Data?"

The Androids fingers danced over his station, "The structures appear to be hydroponic stations"

"Appear to be?" Riker asked again.

"The structures power source does not seem to correspond with a hydroponics bay." Data supplied

"Cover?" Asked Riker

"Sensors can not penetrate the structures to get an accurate scan."

A nod from Picard was all that was needed to assemble an away team.

Dr. Crusher, Lt. Worf, Lt. Cmdr Data and La Forge were taking a shuttle to the surface Ensign Ro was going to pilot it. The region had appeared to be bombarded and fires raged on the surface. While Chief O'Brien could deposit them via transporter to a 'safe' area it would be more conservative to get an aerial view.

"Area up ahead looks good for a put down" La Forge informed from his station. "I see it." Ro replied and soon the shuttle was gracefully placed on land. When the hatch opened the stench hit the nostrils of everyone only Data was unaffected. All of the team reached for their phasors. Ro had smelled this particular odor before she was placed on Valo II. When the Cardassians had come and burned her home some of the inhabitants her world had burned too. They walked to the area of the distress signal was emanating from. La Forge wiped away the debris from a console and began assessing the panel.

"Well this isn't a hydroponics bay" Crusher noted. "This is medical equipment…I don't like this."

"What is it Doctor?" Lt Worf asked his phasor firmly gripped in his hand.

The doctor ran a hand through her hair, "This is bio-mimetic gel and those are growing tanks."

"Damn it" La Forge hissed.

"Sir?" Worf asked on high alert.

In the hands of the engineer was a stack of yellow chips coalesced into a cube, it looked incredibly pretty and fragile. "It's a holo matrix, they must use holography to store their information."

"La Forge to Enterprise, I need Lt. Barclay down here now. Get O'Brien to beam him to our location."

_Shielding on the structure you are in precludes transport. I can get him 50 meters to your present position, scans show that area is clear._

"I'll wait for the Lt." Ro said and marched out of the facility.

Barclay nodded to O'Brien, out of habit he still shut his eyes when he was being transported. When he dematerialized he wished he still had them closed. As he looked around he saw devastation in its most primal form. Fires burned homes were vacated and an odd smell permeated the air. A shape caught his attention he was about to investigate it when he heard his name.

"Lt Barclay" He looked up and saw Ro. Her face was a solid mask it was then that he realized what the shape was—it was a body.

Immediately his lungs seemed to stop processing oxygen. Ro reached him and jabbed her fingertips into his chest. The points of slight pain made him focus on her. "We can't help them" she said softly, "but we need you."

Barclay nodded; he tried to take a deep breath to calm himself but the smell made him gag.

Ro brought his attention back to her, "Breathe through your mouth, I'm going to walk in front of you, keep your eyes on my heels."

Once inside the facility Barclay was lead to station La Forge was working on.

The Chief Engineer was relieved to see Barclay, his degrees from the Daystrom Institute focused in Holography. "Reg, this station seems to store its information on holo- matrices." He held up a yellow chip cluster as proof.

Barclay resisted the urge to chew on his thumb, "We'll have to disassemble the whole emitter and generator. I don't want to come back if we discover the matrices are incompatible with our systems."

"Agreed." Geordi replied.

Crusher spoke up, "Is there any way we can access the information now? Learn what has happened?"

Barclay crawled under the console, which was a feat in of itself due to the size of the Engineer. After a few minutes the center of the facility shimmered as holograms appeared.

There was no audio and the image was not steady. Nonetheless through the holograms actions it was clear that this facility was engaging in crimes against the Federation. The fact that these doctors were using Holography made it even clearer. This was a perfect media for teaching others how to clone and engage in other banned genetic experiments. The question now was who had put an end to this freak lab?

"Reg how long do you think you'll need?" La Forge asked.

Reg waved his hand, "This configuration I-I-I'm not too familiar with it. I also want to make sure this facility hasn't been tampered with."

Geordi rubbed his brow in understanding, "Yeah, yeah Reg…Worf! Have your scans shown anything?"

"No sir" The Klingon informed.

Barclay opened his kit, "Two hours to remove the necessary equipment that can go faster with your assistance sir."

La Forge smiled the first real smile since coming to this forsaken world. "Sure Reg."

An hour into the removal of Equipment had La Forge scratching his head, "What's this?"

Reg moved over to look at the device, "Looks like an omnidirectional holographic diode. Makes sense since the holograms were moving all about the area and there is only one emitter."

With the equipment free all that was left was to lug it out into open so it could be transported. Worf accompanied Ro to the shuttle so it could be returned to the Enterprise.

In Engineering a large table had been assembled to hold the materials. Engineers of all ranks were gathered around arguing.

"We need to download the data then we can use Holodeck…" A voice shouted

A rougher voice cut in, "No, No, No! We can simply place the matrices in our system and lose nothing in the download."

"And blow out the grid while we're at it?" Demanded another.

La Forge clapped his hands, "Hey! Look I'm not comfortable with just plugging in the matrices, if one of you wants to do it go ahead!"

All of the Engineers moved away from the table to work on other problems, no one really paid attention to the Trevu in corner.

Reg was in his quarters trying to make sense of his log entry. He was actually grateful for the door announcement. "Come in".

"Laren" he breathed her name, he stood quickly and grabbed her hand pulling her to him. This time he was the one to kiss her, taking his time to learn her mouth. When his exploration was complete he held her to him knowing it was what she liked.

"you did good today" She said praising him.

"I've never seen anything like that." He admitted.

"I have" Laren said and she began telling him of the destruction of her homeworld and life in the camps on Valo II. Through it all he listened, he heard in detail about food riots. The Cardassians and how her people were tortured. He didn't nod sympathetically he just listened trying to truly absorb what she was telling him. She continued with the conditions of 'The Stockade' of prison riots and what it was like to be incarcerated. When she was done he stood at the replicator, "Water."

_Specify temperature_

"I don't care just give me water." He ordered.

Ro laughed at him, she never thought that he would bark an order at the computer. She found it so funny that she laughed and laughed. She was surprised when Reginald set down the water and came to her side and held her. He whispered, "shhh don't cry."

She tried to tell him that she was laughing but then she felt the wet splotches on her cheeks she was indeed crying. She wept for her father. She wept for Reg and the innoncence that was stolen away from him on Darvos II and finally she wept for herself.

When she was done she turned away from him, "I should go but I don't want to."

"Then stay" Barclay crowed, "take my bed, I'll sleep out here."

"You're nearly two meters, that sofa is not… you'll kill your back." She argued.

Laren could see the wheels turning in his mind and he blushed. "my bed is big enough to share… just share…if you really don't want to leave." He strode over to his dresser and tapped the third panel. The drawer slid out smoothly and he retrieved two items. "Here you can sleep in these they'll probably fit."

Laren nodded and pointed into the bathroom, Reg stood and busied himself in the sitting area. When she was done he took care of his nightly routine. It was awkward at first, while Reg had had sex he had never slept with a woman. Between the two of them they climbed into bed. Amazingly it was Reg who fell asleep first, Laren knew he had when she heard his breathing change into deep even intakes. She let his cadence carry her into the realm of dreams.


	8. Chapter 8

Dreams were abruptly stopped when extremely loud noises boomed throughout Barclay's quarters. It was so loud that it rattled the pictures on the wall. Ro was awake instantly, she ran to the door and stuck her head out apparently the noise was everywhere. She could her a faint voice on the comm. system but the music drowned it out. Reg was now up he swiped at his eyes and had a foul look upon his face.

Someone on the bridge must have realized that the comm. would be useless. The LCARS panel to her right was flashing a message

**All hands report to stations immediately!**

"Where is your phasor?" Ro shouted.

Barclay ambled over to his dresser and waved the bottom panel open. He entered in a code and retrieved a phasor handing it to Ro. Barclay grabbed another shirt from his dresser, turned his back to her and hastily removed his pajama top. Ro was caught off guard by his action. He was pleasingly broad shouldered and in good shape. He pushed his arms into the short-sleeved lightweight shirt. The pajama top had long sleeves but then she remembered that it had a deep-V exposing his chest. Reginald Barclay was modest.

The two padded out of his quarters. The crew ran through the halls in various states of undress. Some were uniformed but others not. Dr. Crusher was seen dashing to a turbolift in a silk nightgown. While Ro's general duty station was the helm it was no doubt occupied. Her other duties included security so she ran armed with Reg towards engineering. Were they under attack?

The noise was a disjointed bunch of chords and lyrics. Bits and pieces of Klingon opera, Bolian Polkas and what sounded like the Bajoran Death chant seemed to be fighting for dominance. Ro took a quick look at Barclay, he was still bleary-eyed _Not liking loud music for a wake-up call he would have hated the Academy!_

A handful of people were nearing a turbo-lift Ro and Barclay made a hand signal telling them to wait. As they clamored in a crewman shouted "Engineering" at the panel but the wailing from the Kilngon Soprano effectively silenced him. Barclay reached over and entered some commands into the panel and the lift moved and finally deposited them on deck 36.

Engineering was a flurry of activity, Barclay looked for La Forge so far the chief engineer had not arrived. A quick look revealed only ensigns making Barclay the senior officer. His head and shoulders slumped briefly before snapping back up "Logan, start a diagnostic on the comm. system. Shiall, while she's at it work on the volume turn it off turn it down…"

La Forge had arrived and Barclay jogged to him to inform him what was going on. Geordi nodded and yelled at Reg to bring him the log journals of past 12 hours. Reg, managed to download the records into several PADD's. Shiall, a male Trill waved his arms to get everyone's attention. He entered a command and the music stopped however, it had the unintended effect of killing illumination.

The engineers clustered around the warpcore letting the pulsing blue light provide some light. "Good job, Shiall you managed to kill the comm.. system!" Logan yelled "You wanted the music off—it's off!" Shiall screamed back the blue light from the warpcore made him look crazed. Barclay stood in between them causing them to back up and calm down.

"Why isn't emergency lighting on?" Logan asked as she tried to pull her hair into a bun. Logan was one of the few to arrive in uniform yet she was not up to dress code. La Forge could care less he wanted his ship up and running again. While the Captain may command it in Geordi's eyes it was his.

Ro appeared with a palm beacon helping the officers read the PADD's.

"Bit higher Ro please" Barclay asked.

Geordi groaned, "Anybody seen Sud?"

A chorus of "no" was his answer.

Geordi waved his PADD, "He logged in that he would be placing the matrices we extracted into the Holodeck."

"In the name of God why?" Logan blurted.

"Computer, Locate Ensign Sud" Geordi commanded

When silence was the reply Geordi snarled, with the comm. system down the computer wouldn't respond to voice input. Logan quickly worked a panel, "Ensign Sud is in Holodeck 2"

"Ro, Barclay you're with me." La Forge commanded.

"Sir?" Inquired Ro.

"You have security training we might need you. With the comm.. system down I doubt I can get a hold of Worf."

The corridors were dark and many of the crew bumped into one another. A few beams of light lit the corridors no doubt from Palm Beacons. The trio found the turbo lift and manually entered the destination. The giant doors of the Holodeck loomed and opened before the three. Inside the saw the Trevu trying desperately to undo whatever he had done.

Ro was the first to notice that this area had power. "There's illumination here."

"What have you done?" La Forge barked.

Sud pointed a finger at La Forge before clenching his fist bringing it down to rest at his side. "You stated that you were not comfortable installing the matrices yet if one of the other engineers were comfortable that we should proceed."

Geordi had to resist the urge to remove his VISOR to rub his eyes, "My implication was to _not_ install the matrices…is there sarcasm on your world?"

"Sir?" The Trevu asked confused.

La Forge cocked his head, "are you bleeding?"

"Had trouble with the installation." Sud informed quietly.

La Forge pointed to the doors, "Report to Sickbay, Ensign Ro will escort you."

The Trevu made for the exit before leaving La Forge snagged Ro's elbow and whispered, "Get him Medically cleared and then get him to the Captain. Any of the Engineers can show you how to manipulate the turbolifts."

Barclay knelt beside an open panel, "Systems in here seem unaffected, and we have lighting lets see if we have anything else. Computer?"

No audible twinkle was heard, "looks like the comm.. is out ship-wide…lets get to work."

The cut on Sud's arm was small but quite deep. Doctor Crusher was able to repair the damage. The ship-wide loss of lighting had her sickbay full. She had merely thrown her blue labcoat over he nightgown for she had no respite from the amount of patients to retrieve her uniform.

"Are you all right Ro?" The Doctor asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just got scared out of bed."

The doctor had heard whispers from her staff that Ro and Barclay had been on a date in the arboretum. She had hoped that the whispers were true however; when Beverly saw the shirt Ro was clad in her fears were assuaged. The Bajoran was wearing a Maroon short sleeved shirt two-sizes too big and emblazoned across the chest was gold lettering **Property of Daystrom Research Institute.**

_More like property of Reginald Barclay! _She thought.


	9. Chapter 9

"How much damage did he do?" La Forge asked as he crouched next to Barclay. The Lieutenant had already begun untangling the mess left from Ensign Sud.

Reg stopped his work and sat back on his haunches and pointed with his spanner, "Looks like this assembly was fused together but it is running…remember how the hologram in the facility had no audio?"

"Yeah Reg"

Barclay looked thoughtful, "perhaps th- the- the audio is corrupted or in some other way damaged uh"

La Forge jumped onto his train of thought, "And Sud tied in the ships computer to try and retrieve the data."

Barclay pried loose the cluster-block of chips and placed it in a scanner. "There are elements of the ships library in here…see the data set?"

La Forge looked over the Lieutenants shoulder, "Yeah Reg I see it... recommend we purge it?"

Reg nodded, "Aye Sir, we purge the library data from this and sever the connection to the main computer that should stop the comm. system from playing the collection"

La Forge stood up, "In the meantime I have to figure out what the hell Shiall did to comm. system or it won't play anything ever."

Reg snorted, "After this morning that might be a good thing."

La Forge went back to the double doors leading to the ships corridors as they swept aside he shouted, "Lights are back on, at least we won't be working in the dark. Looks like we may have this one wrapped up, feel free to get changed."

Reg thought about leaving the Holodeck for his uniform and a pair of shoes, but the holo-matrix was singing to him. The severing of the connection was simple, however the purge of library data was tedious. Also the hard floor of the Holodeck wasn't providing comfort. Since he was already in the Holodeck he called for his only saved program, the forest. Since his treatment for Holo-addiction he had removed all of the doppelgangers he had created leaving only the forest. He would come here every so often to remind himself of how far he had come and how far he still had to go. He heard the exit vanish but he was still engrossed in the purge. Something at the field of his vision caught his attention, it was his comm. badge, and a voice accompanied it. "I hope you don't mind I went and got this from your quarters."

Reg smiled, it was Ro. He stood and stretched, Ro watched appreciatively. He reached and took the gold device it was still warm from Ro's fingers. He saw that she had changed into her uniform. She was so very beautiful, he couldn't help himself he cupped the back of her neck and pulled her to him for a kiss. He wanted her but the crimson of her uniform reminded him that this was not the time. "I don't mind" he answered as he nuzzled against her. Knowing that if he looked at her for any longer would probably result in them being brought up on charges of conduct unbecoming he sat back down and went back to the purge.

Ro could feel something was different the air around them seem to be charged. Reginald was surprising her. Instead of chewing on her lips to keep from giving a scathing reply she now biting her lip to keep from smiling.

Shiall had inadvertently pushed the volume control beyond their limit causing an overload which disabled the entire comm.. system. La Forge had seen nothing like it, the resulting overload of communications had also knocked out the lights. In all it took 2 hours from the initial screeching through the ship for everything to be resolved, three hours later Reg had purged the matrix and restored the audio to holographic record. Thanks to Ro he could notify the Captain.

_I am doctor Rek. Today we will be immersing the specimens into the gel. This will increase the growth rate by 47%. Cloned material should be ready within eight hours._

Picard and Crusher watched as the hologram moved about.

"Is there anymore?" Picard asked his voice stony and his face stonier.

"No sir this was the last in the series." Barclay informed.

"That's consistent with the state of lab." Crusher added.

"Do we have identification on the species?" Picard asked.

Crusher shook her head, "Not on what was being cloned but doctor Rek is-"

"Arcturian" Picard supplied, "I need to speak with Admiral Nogalis…Thank you Mr. Barclay."

Barclay seemed to grow 5 centimeters under the Captain's praise. Riding the wave of exhilaration Barclay returned to his quarters. Upon entering he saw that Ro had retrieved his comm. badge and touched nothing else. He removed the badge placing on his night table and went to make the bed. It was silly but he reached for the pillow trying to see if Ro's scent was on it. He wondered if he could surprise her after her duty shift. He went to his closest his amount of non-uniformed items was limited. A pair of pants caught his attention since they were on the floor in the back of the small space. He grabbed them and his heart seemed to stop, they were the pants he wore on Darvos II. Not knowing how his hand moved he pulled the garment closer to him.

_They're just pants, just a blend of fibers nothing more_ His mind screamed.

He folded them and in the act of doing so a piece of the un-worked crystal from Darvos II fell out of one of the pockets. The walls of his quarters seemed to close in on him, his instinct told him to leave and he did.

Ro became concerned when Barclay didn't respond to her attempts to raise him. The computer said his location was his quarters but since she was currently standing in them she knew that was untrue. A quick check showed all his uniforms were still hanging neatly in his closet. _Where would he go?_

After half an hour she found him in the Holodeck, he was running the forest simulation.

"Reginald, what's the matter?"

He didn't turn to face her but he spoke, "I found this in my quarter and I panicked and came here." He had extended his hand and she saw the material from the vein she had discovered. She moved to stand before him and took his face in her hands.

"This chunk of rock, it's-it's inanimate yet-"

She stopped him speaking with a kiss; he dropped the crystal on the simulated forest floor and kissed her back. This, this is what mattered not a piece of crystal. Her small hands ran underneath his shirt to caress the warm expanse of his back. The sensation caused him to snap his head back.

_Good, feel this, think of this! _Ro's mind rallied. She was delighted when he expertly unhooked then unzipped her uniform tunic. She retaliated by peeling off his shirt. This time she was able to get a good look at him and he looked good. She aided him in removing the rest of her uniform. Clothing littered the forest floor; reverently he laid her down on the makeshift bed. Tracing her face he looked long and hard at her so much so that Ro began to shift in uncertainty.

She wanted him to do something instead of just looking at her. Her discomfort grew until she felt his lips on her collarbone and she sighed. Lips met lips and skin met skin, each body welcoming the other. For Reg it had been so long since he had felt the pleasures of the flesh and it had never been like this. He was free to touch and he did. His hand wandering to the flare of her hip, he swirled his fingertips over the smooth skin and moaned into her neck. Taking advantage of his distraction she hooked her right leg over his hip letting her center make contact with his.

His eyes sprang open and she smiled wickedly before using her powerful legs to pull him closer. Tilting her pelvis changed the angle allowing him complete access to her. It was too much and it wasn't enough Reg made a sound that consisted only of vowels and pushed forward the action making the woman in his arms sigh in contentment. The forest itself sighed with a breeze while the two unlikeliest of people in Starfleet made love beneath the oak.

_Sixteen years later_

Miles Edward O'Brien was late; he had a huge pile of PADDs in his hand. Not once since he had started teaching at the Academy had he been late he was determined not to break his record. A PADD clattered to the ground, "Damn!" the Chief hissed.

A tall dark-blonde Bajoran reached down and retrieved the item giving it to the Chief, "Here you go Mr. O'Brien."

"Thank you son" The Irishman said genuinely, "First day?"

"Of formal classes yes" the blonde answered.

O'Brien studied him carefully, "Where do I know you from?" During his time on Deep Space Nine he had met many Bajorans but this one was different there was more familiarity associated with him. His memory was tickled by something before his time on the space station.

The blonde smiled making the feeling of Déjà vu resonate more with the Chief.

"Better not be late" the Youngman stated.

O'Brien's curiosity won out, "Wait, wait, wait. What's your name son?"

The Bajoran turned, "Rowan Endicott Barclay but only Mom calls me that…everyone else calls me Ro."

_Jupiter Station_

"Your wife for you Commander" A crewman informed.

Commander Reginald Barclay sat down at a communications terminal and saw his wife she was upset, "Lala, is everything all right?" He asked.

She smiled weakly, "Remember how I laughed at you when you wouldn't leave the entrance to the primary school on Rowan's first day?"

Reg ran a hand through his graying hair, "Yes I do."

"Well now you can laugh at me, I can't seem to leave the Academy Quad." She moaned.

"I'll be there in half an hour." He informed her. Terminating the comm. link he addressed his team.

"I'm going to Earth, try not to decompile anything until I get back." He ordered and with that he left the Holo Programming facility to catch a transport to comfort his wife.


End file.
